In the quest for blog impact and interactivity, several of our classes are now using Voicethread and Answergarden. These web apps are being integrated into class learning and/or as follow up home learning activities. Voicethread offers the flexibility of accepting comments as text, voice or video, so it is applicable across all levels of the school. Click on the images below to view each Voicethread.
Answergarden is a web app which accepts short form comments/answers, up to 20 characters long. It is immediate and, like Wallwisher, it visually displays shared ideas/comments by making them larger if more respondents have chosen them. Try one below, feel free to leave your own comment.
ACTIVBOARD
Since the acquisition of five new Activboards earlier this year we have set staff Activboard training as our top ICT priority. This has so far involved team workshops involving teachers new to the device, weekly tuition sessions as timetabled and requested by individual teachers and sharing time for new tools, flipcharts or tips at fortnightly team meetings.
One of the most useful sites you can visit, for upskilling yourself and others in effective use of an Activboard, is Promethean Planet. After having a board installed it should be mandatory to sign up for a free Promethean Planet user account. This site is full of thousands of Activboard resources. For newbies, the Activtips page on Promethean Planet is a goldmine, these tutorials are clear and specific and added to regularly. Check out the link to go straight there ActivTips
BLOGGING
Our ongoing ICT focus is to maintain the freshness and immediacy of each class blog by regularly updating them with relevant and engaging classroom content. With older children the expectation is that more content is student generated and with this goal in mind we are working to develop blog experts in each class. The other blog push is to use the blog as more of an interactive tool, rather than a static presentation window.
One of the tools I have found useful for developing student knowledge and interaction is Proprofs
This site allows you to generate your own interactive quizzes. The quizzes can be multiple answers, multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blanks or essay style response.
Most recently in the Middle Syndicate our Inquiry focus has been Heroes, to gauge student knowledge retention I have been producing a multiple choice quiz about each new hero we have investigated.
Another inquiry focused Web 2.0 tool that we are deploying throughout our middle syndicate is Vodpod
Vodpod enables you to assemble a collection of video clips, relevant or current to what is happening in your class. You can display your Vodpod collection of clips as a widget on your blog. This tool saves students the time and risk of having to search for the clips themselves, traversing the wilds of Youtube. Because the collection appears to be stored on your blog it keeps your users within the protected boundaries of your site. In our case, the videos are directly connected to our current Inquiry, which gives students the opportunity to share their thoughts on what they have watched by making a comment on our Inquiry page.
2011
VOICETHREAD AND ANSWERGARDEN
In the quest for blog impact and interactivity, several of our classes are now using Voicethread and Answergarden. These web apps are being integrated into class learning and/or as follow up home learning activities. Voicethread offers the flexibility of accepting comments as text, voice or video, so it is applicable across all levels of the school. Click on the images below to view each Voicethread.Answergarden is a web app which accepts short form comments/answers, up to 20 characters long. It is immediate and, like Wallwisher, it visually displays shared ideas/comments by making them larger if more respondents have chosen them. Try one below, feel free to leave your own comment.
ACTIVBOARD
Since the acquisition of five new Activboards earlier this year we have set staff Activboard training as our top ICT priority. This has so far involved team workshops involving teachers new to the device, weekly tuition sessions as timetabled and requested by individual teachers and sharing time for new tools, flipcharts or tips at fortnightly team meetings.One of the most useful sites you can visit, for upskilling yourself and others in effective use of an Activboard, is Promethean Planet. After having a board installed it should be mandatory to sign up for a free Promethean Planet user account. This site is full of thousands of Activboard resources. For newbies, the Activtips page on Promethean Planet is a goldmine, these tutorials are clear and specific and added to regularly. Check out the link to go straight there ActivTips
BLOGGING
Our ongoing ICT focus is to maintain the freshness and immediacy of each class blog by regularly updating them with relevant and engaging classroom content. With older children the expectation is that more content is student generated and with this goal in mind we are working to develop blog experts in each class. The other blog push is to use the blog as more of an interactive tool, rather than a static presentation window.Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
Room 4
Room 5
Room 6
Room 7
Room 8
Room 9
Room 10
Room 11
Room 12
QUIZZES
One of the tools I have found useful for developing student knowledge and interaction is ProprofsThis site allows you to generate your own interactive quizzes. The quizzes can be multiple answers, multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blanks or essay style response.
Most recently in the Middle Syndicate our Inquiry focus has been Heroes, to gauge student knowledge retention I have been producing a multiple choice quiz about each new hero we have investigated.
VODPOD
Another inquiry focused Web 2.0 tool that we are deploying throughout our middle syndicate is VodpodVodpod enables you to assemble a collection of video clips, relevant or current to what is happening in your class. You can display your Vodpod collection of clips as a widget on your blog. This tool saves students the time and risk of having to search for the clips themselves, traversing the wilds of Youtube. Because the collection appears to be stored on your blog it keeps your users within the protected boundaries of your site. In our case, the videos are directly connected to our current Inquiry, which gives students the opportunity to share their thoughts on what they have watched by making a comment on our Inquiry page.
ACOT